Stillman College battles back from financial brink
The 105-acre Stillman College campus in Tuscaloosa looked largely different in early 2017 when Cynthia Warrick became its seventh president, the first woman in that position.
Enrollment had fallen to less than half a hoped-for 1,300. Sports programs had been cut from 12 down to 2, a cost-saving measure. Admission had been reduced for fall 2015, from roughly $22,500 to $17,500 for tuition, meals and housing, but the perception of Stillman's expense drove some potential students to investigate other alternatives. And cutting tuition was a risk: The college needs that money to run. Despite the cuts, enrollment dropped from 917 full-time students in fall 2014 to less than 600 by late 2016.
"As a private school, that really affected us," said Warrick. "We're tuition-driven."
The summer before she took on the job, Stillman had borrowed $1.05 million to cover payroll and other operating costs, in a bank loan requiring the city of Tuscaloosa to sign on as guarantor.
“Stillman College has honored its commitment to the consortium of banks, thus it is premature to speculate on the future," Mayor Walt Maddox said in early 2017.
Read more: https://www.tuscaloosanews.com/story/news/2020/11/27/stillman-college-battles-back-financial-troubles-three-years-ago/6254119002/